


Doom: Origins

by thenewdarling



Category: Fantastic Four, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 20:04:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14504481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewdarling/pseuds/thenewdarling
Summary: Victor von Doom is all the best bits of Stephen Strange and Tony Stark. And all the worst bits.This is the story of how genius scientist, occult mage and fierce politician, became a dictator. And how it's all the fault of that Fool, Richards…Putting it to rest that Victor is tragic and gay, Reed is kind of a horrible person, and they’ll never stop being obsessed with each other.Young adults AU, origin story. Two distinctly different flavours of toxic masculinity in a shit smoothie.





	1. The Biggest Ego in the Room

**Author's Note:**

> I cringe writing a character as vain as Victor von Doom BUT you don't have all the facts.  
> "which are?"  
> i love him

**Advanced Idea Mechanics**  
**“Bright Sparks” Foundation Think Tank**  
**The not too distant future**

“Victor von Doom.” Victor extended his hand for his new lab partner to shake.

The other man was younger than him by a good few years. Probably barely in his twenties. But he had something about him that made him seem old. 

And it wasn't the half-moon spectacles that hung precariously from his nose, tied by a string around his neck. Or the beginnings of grey around his temples. Hipster academics loved that shit. The 24-year old Cardigan Professor look.

No. There was something different about this man. And Victor hadn't quite worked out what it was yet.

The man looked at Victor’s hand for a moment. Then, gingerly, he took it. Like he was putting his hand in a bear trap. “Dr. Reed Richards,” he said.

The handshake ended, and Reed slipped his hand out.

Of course this guy introduces himself with his doctorate. But it wasn't like Victor could append his now, could he. And now the guy probably thought he was some scholar intern.

Reed peered over the contraption Victor had constructed on the desk before them, down the long narrow bridge of his nose. “Fascinating…” he said, leaning into a beaker where inside tiny golden particles sparked off of one another. “Are these-”

“Negative Zone particles. Yes.” Victor stiffened.

The light from the particles reflected in Reed’s glasses, and he smiled. “Oh, I'm not going to regret requesting you to be my partner, Victor.”

Victor cleared his throat. “You, know who I am?”

“I read your thesis on antimatter displacement.” He sounded absent, still fixated on the particles in the jar. Victor got the impression Reed had long ago mastered the art of holding half a conversation on autopilot, while his brain turned over things he found more interesting.

Still, he had to know.

“What did you think of it?”

“Revolutionary,” Reed said, and looked back at him. 

Victor had his full attention now. For some reason, he could feel a bead of sweat forming on the back of his neck. Like he was withering under Reed’s gaze. Why?

“I think you're one of the most talented scientists I've ever met,” Reed said. He wasn't a short man, but he stood with bad posture, and had to crane his neck to see eye to eye with Victor. “Or at least, you have the potential to be.”

“P-” Victor spluttered. “Potential?” Just who did this guy think he was?? Potential. They were classmates! Equals! And this squirt comes down like the Dalai Lama and deigns to say he has ‘potential’?

“Oh, don’t take that the wrong way, Mr. von Doom. I meant it as a compliment.”

Victor clenched his teeth so hard he could hear them cracking. “It's Doctor von Doom.”

And he stormed out of the lab.

 

#

 

“Potential!” Victor said, taking his toothbrush out of his mouth and spitting in the sink. “He said I had ‘potential’, who does he think he is?” He looked in the mirror at the woman behind him.

“Sounds like Reed. He probably didn't even think about whether you two would be compatible personally, all the guy thinks about is zero-point energy and… I don't know, quantum entanglement.” Sue put her foot up on Victor’s bed and tied her laces. As bunkmates of over a year, they'd learned a healthy disrespect for each others’ space.

“Wait, you know him?”

Sue looked grave. “We dated in high school.”

Victor spat toothpaste in the sink. “Wait a minute, he-”

“I don't wanna talk ab-”

“He's straight?”

“Oh Vic,” Sue said. “Oh Vic, no. Bad idea. Don't go there.”

“What?”

“I am not dealing with another one of your dramatic three month flings where you’re banging on some boy’s door at 3 in the morning, or you stumble in drunk and in tears.”

“So you're saying…” Victor said, wiping his mouth with a towel. “I do have a shot with him?”

Sue slapped her forehead. “I may as well be talking to a brick wall.”

“I was thinking that the entire time I was talking with him.” Victor eyed himself in the mirror, checking everything was still in order.

Green eyes, proud Latverian cheekbones. Clean-shaven and just the right amount of aftershave. A solid 6’3”, broad shouldered. Tasteful long sleeve Henley. And he was the smartest guy in the lab.

He winked at his reflection.

Hell yeah, any guy in there should be lucky to have him! Half of them didn't even wash. That damn Mole Man…

He shadow boxed a few punches in the mirror and checked out his bicep.

“Hello? Sylvester Stallone? Can I get in to use the bathroom please?” Sue watched him, her eyes furious.

He sighed, and picked up his gym bag, throwing it over his shoulder. “Fine.”

Healthy disrespect.

“You know, Vic, that ego of yours is going to be your undoing.”

“It's only an ego if it's not justified, Sue.”


	2. Like a Mirror

When Victor looked up Reed’s work in the library, he hadn't expected quite so much material.

The stack of paper sitting before him could've easily been worth twenty five years of research but Reed looked barely old enough to be out of uni.

And it was the breadth of topics that threw him. He almost thought there must be more than one Reed Richards. He'd written about everything from astrophysics to zoology.

He was skimming through a paper on neuroscience when Reed himself walked past. He looked lost in thought, as usual.

“Richards.”

At the sound of his name, Reed snapped back to Earth. For a moment anyway.

“Did you really write all of this material?”

“I have written rather a lot,” Reed said. “But then I study a lot of things at once so it does start to build up.”

“Don't you worry you're… I don't know,” Victor said. “Stretching yourself a little thin?”

Reed smiled. His smile was wry, like a split in the bough of a tree. He had a mischievous glint in his eyes when he smiled. As though he was the only one who got the joke. “One can never stretch oneself too thin, I find.”

“Hm,” Victor said. “I suppose I just have a one track mind.” He was captivated, and he hated it. Reed’s eyes gave away nothing, he was so god damn enigmatic.

“Quite. I'm interested in seeing the results of your experiments though.”

 _Oh, kiss me you skinny fuck,_ Victor thought.

Was Reed thinking along the same lines? It was hard to tell.

“That also excites me. Who knows, maybe we’ll be the first humans to set foot in the Negative Zone.”

Reed laughed. “Now that is a stretch even I'm not capable of. I'll leave the field work to other people, thank you very much.” He patted Victor on the shoulder. “I'll see you around.” And he walked off.

Victor stared into space for a second before remembering to say, “Yeah. See you.”

Oh shit. This was bad.

Reed was about to become the latest in a long line of soured love interests that ended up making things awkward for him at parties for years to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's becoming a thing I do every time I write fanfiction where the characters don't have their canon superpowers - make a bajillion puns about them.


	3. Drinking Buddies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Victor is basically Gaston.  
> I haven't watched Beauty and the Beast, but I know this to be the case.

Victor knew he had a very bad track record when it came to denying himself things he wanted. And he’d learned to live with it. He had an addictive personality, and a lot of drive. And he had no interest in gambling or drugs, thank God, so he’d managed to do well for himself.

He wanted accolades, degrees, for people to notice how clever he was. So he pushed himself to get into one of the most prestigious think tanks in the country.

He wanted to be beautiful, so he took good care of himself. He took care of his skin, and his eyebrows, and he worked out constantly.

He wanted power, so he studied not just the sciences but the magic his mother had passed on to him.

And he seemed to want every misguided academic boy that dared to talk to him like he wasn’t a fucking genius.

To wit:

“You’ve said nothing for the last five minutes,” Bruce said.

Victor looked down at his brandy. The ice had melted. “Sorry. Distracted.”

“You were the one that asked me to come out here - is something up?”

Victor shrugged, and necked his drink. The melted ice cut the taste. “It’s my new lab partner.”

Bruce rolled his eyes.

“I think I’m going to ask him if he wants to fuck.”

Bruce choked on his ginger ale, turning bright red.

“For God’s sake, Bruce. You’re nearly thirty years old.”

“A little bit of tact? All I’m asking. A little bit of tact,” Bruce said. “God, why are you even telling me this? I’m not your therapist. Especially with our history.”

Victor threw his head back and laughed.

Bruce looked disgruntled.

“What? What’s the matter?” Victor said, in a baby voice. “Do you still have feelings for me?”

Bruce rubbed the bridge of his nose. “No, Victor, I don’t. If I did I wouldn’t be here right now. Besides, you know I’m seeing someone.”

“Yeah, the other biggest asshole in this entire complex. How is-”

“Fine,” Bruce said pointedly. “He’s fine. None of your business.” He stood up.

“Anyone ever told you you have a type, Banner?” Victor put a finger up to the bartender and gestured for two more.

“Victor, I’m here because I’m trying to be your friend. Please, don’t make this harder for me.”

Victor looked at Bruce, then sighed. “Fine.” He gestured for Bruce to sit back down. “I… apologise.”

“Wow,” Bruce said, sitting down. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard that phrase come out of your mouth.”

Victor shot him a petulant look.

“So… this new lab partner,” Bruce said, avoiding eye contact. “What’s his name?”

“Reed Richards.”

“You’re kidding!” Bruce said. “That guy’s a genius.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Victor put his head in his hands as the next drink turned up.

“Oh my god…” A sly smile crept across Bruce’s face. “You are kidding me, you’re jealous!”

“No!” Victor said. “No!? No! Of course not! What the hell do I have to be jealous about? Have you seen me?!”

Bruce laughed. “Oh my God you are!”

“Bastard…” Victor said. “I can see him looking down on me.”

“And that… makes you want to have sex with him?”

“Yes!” Victor said. “He’d not be so smug when I-”

“I don’t,” Bruce interrupted. “Want to hear the end of that sentence. Thank you.”

Victor rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know Victor, do you not hear yourself? That sounds kind of unhealthy. Why are you so worried what this guy thinks of you?”

“Because I’m the best! And he thinks he’s the best!”

“Yep. You haven’t changed a bit,” Bruce said. “I’m going home. For the record, this-” he gestured at them both. “Was a terrible idea. Grow up, Victor.”

Victor rubbed his face, his head was starting to spin from the booze. “You grow up! You can’t even hear the word ‘fuck’ without clutching your pearls!” He continued to grumble like this, by himself, for the next half hour.

#

Victor staggered back down the corridors towards his room when he was stopped dead in his tracks.

“Well, well, well…” he said. “If it isn’t the Great Doctor Richards.”

“Oh, good evening Victor,” Reed said. He was carrying books stacked against his chest, pinned against his chin.

“What’re you doing out this late?” Victor checked his watch, then remembered he wasn’t wearing one.

“Checking out these books before the library closed. I lost track of time, measuring the Negative Zone particles.”

“Wait, you’ve been… working with the Negative Zone particles?”

“I am your lab mate, right?” Reed said. “Would you rather I didn’t?”

“I… no, that’s fine, I guess. I… they’re very delicate.”

“I know,” Reed said. “I was careful.”

“Are you trying to muscle in on my research and get your name slapped on the end of my report?”

Reed bristled. “I have my name on 1,027 peer reviewed publications, Victor. I don’t really care about the name on your little report, I just think the contents are interesting.”

Victor wanted to knock the books out of his fucking hands. “Are you trying to piss me off?”

“No,” Reed said, matter-of-factly. “I’m sorry if you think that. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You’re an asshole,” Victor said, and he stormed off.

Reed rolled his eyes and muttered as Victor left, “So everyone keeps telling me.”

#

 _“I’m Reed, you’re just a peon! I’m so above it all!”_ Victor mimicked. 

He kicked his bed, putting a dent in it.

Sue took her headphones off for long enough to say, “Remember this morning where I said this was the exact situation I didn’t want?”

_“I’m in 1,026 peer reviewed papers and you think your little research matters?”_

Sue groaned and put her headphones back on. “You make it so hard to be your friend.”


End file.
